Rinpoche's Cremation Ceremony July 18, 2026

Ayang Rinpoche’s Ku-Dung (holy body)

at Thupten Shedrub Jangchub Ling Monastery in India

 

 

H.H. Palchen Galo Rinpoche, True Lhamo and the staff at Ayang Rinpoche's monastery are planning the activities surrounding the cremation of Chöje Ayang Rinpoche's ku-dung (holy body) on July 18, 2026. Visitors are welcome. If you are planning to attend, and have not already let someone in your own country know, please send us an email so that we can notify the monastery. Please see this guide to travel to Bylakuppe and accommodations in the area. For updates visit our website. To be able to stay within the Tibetan Settlement of Bylakuppe, attendees will need to have a PAP, Protected Area Permit. Please enter "Dickyi Larsoe Tibetan Settlement, P.O. Bylakuppe-571104, Mysore, Karnataka" as the place proposed to visit. Note that it can take a month or longer to get the PAP approved. After the cremation, Rinpoche's holy relics will be placed into a new stupa being constructed at his monastery. We invite you to make a tax-deductible offering to help complete Rinpoche's stupa and to support the cremation ceremonies. Please click below or send your check in USD to: Amitabha Foundation P. O. Box 2572 Aptos, CA 95001

With sincere thanks, Your Dharma friends at Amitabha Foundation

 

 

Happy New Year! Start it off right with some mental rejuvenation and a healthy dose of equanimity, and join us for our ongoing group meditation series. As announced in our recent newsletter, John Halpern will be guiding us in the first Shiné—Calm Abiding—meditation session of 2026 this Saturday, 01/10 at 2pm. The next date this month will be on Sunday, January 18th. See below for registration info and more details: We are pleased to announce that the popular Calm Abiding Meditation series with John Halpern continues at the Big Indian Sanctuary, Thinley Khachod Ling, this Saturday, January 10th at 2pm Eastern time. It will now be hybrid: accessible both in person (weather permitting)* and online. Calm Abiding is a method based on Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.  Beginner & all meditation levels are invited. Also known as Shiné in Tibetan and Shamatha in Sanskrit, this is the foundation of all meditation. It develops the capacity to rest the mind on a singular point of focus and sustain a state of tremendous relaxation and evenness.  The ongoing workshops Include: Three Aspects of Calm Abiding or Shiné Practice 1. Gazing at a stable object (External) 2. Focusing upon a luminous sphere within (Inner) 3. Formless Immersion (Secret ) These three aspects will be broken up into several discrete sessions, and elaborated upon as the series continues over time. The 3rd aspect also opens the doorway to vivid flashes of insight(lhatong or vipassana): liberating glimpses of emptiness and openness.  Explanation and practice of breathwork, mindful relaxation, and tonglen healing will also be explored. *If the weather forecast the morning of a scheduled session indicates it may be dangerous to travel, we will conduct the session soley via Zoom, so stay tuned once you register.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

John Halpern embarked on the profound path of Tibetan Buddhist training and study in 1982 with His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, the first Supreme Head of the Nyingma lineage, who was a living terton or treasure revealer. He continued his studies with H.H. Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche until Rinpoche’s parinirvana in 2017.  At H.H. Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche’s request, in 2009, John began leading meditation instruction at Yeshe Nyingpo, the Dudjom Tersar lineage Temple in New York. Since then, John has led retreats and Naked Mind - a weekly meditation class, in Union Square, New York.    John is an international, award winning artist and independent filmmaker of over 50 years, known for large-scale, interactive, public art, cultural activism – socially engaged practice, and theatrically released art films. John established the Institute for Cultural Activism International, a 501(c)3 art organization based in Delhi, NY, with his wife Emily Harris in 2022.